BRW Rich 200 member Nathan Tinkler might be feeling a sense of déjà vu after Whitehaven Coal lost 5 per cent of its value on Thursday over fears that environmental concerns could derail the company’s Maules Creek coal mine in northern NSW.

Last time something like this happened it was a hoax – Whitehaven Coal temporarily lost 8.8 per cent of its market value on January 7, when an anti-coal activist sent a fake press release saying that ANZ had pulled its loan because of environmental concerns over the project.

This time it is quite real. The federal government has delayed a decision on environmental approvals to both Maules Creek and Idemitsu’s adjacent Boggabri expansion for three months.

In a statement to the ASX, Whitehaven managing director Tony Haggarty says the company is “extremely disappointed". He says the approval process started in August 2010 and Whitehaven has spent months working with the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, also with Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke’s office, to thoroughly answer questions and provide details on the benefits to the region.

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It is clear that the market is jittery about coal and part of that is because globally coal continues to trade at low prices.

Over the past year, Australian coal prices have fallen from around $117 a tonne to a low of $85, although a recent recovery sees prices back around $93.

The other factor at work is that anti-mining activism is becoming a significant market disruption. That goes both for community opposition to nearby mining projects and general activist campaigning to protect areas of high conservation value.

Protesters against mine developments don’t always succeed, but if they can drag out the decision process long enough, then they may shift the long game in their favour. Delays in environmental approvals cost mining companies money and activists are aware of this.

It’s not just governments that are susceptible to public pressure – activists are increasingly pressuring all decision makers, including the lending institutions. Banks have started to change their investment decisions as a result, which is why the ANZ/Whitehaven hoax was so plausible. (See detailed report: Sustainability in the spotlight keeps banks on guard against greenwash).

Kobad Bhavnagri, head of clean energy research for BNEF in Australia, said: “Financing for coal would be made very expensive because of all the risks involved. A bank would be quite conscious of financing a highly polluting asset. That would likely make them susceptible to environmental activism."

Even without a carbon price, wind energy is now 14 per cent cheaper than a new baseload coal-fired power station and 18 per cent cheaper than a new gas one, BNEF reports.